Angelina Jolie learned more about her daughter through producer role

Angelina Jolie learned a lot about her youngest daughter through producing a Broadway show.

The 'Maleficent' star was introduced to 'The Outsiders' by 15-year-old Vivienne after the teenager saw its run on the West Coast last year, and she agreed to get involved with the New York production as a result of the youngster's passion.

She told Deadline: "My daughter Viv loves theatre.

"She appreciates all theater but she certainly knows what she feels close to and what she responds to. She went to see 'The Outsiders' at La Jolla about five times and was telling me about it, and I had read the book, and I'd seen the film years ago."

At the urging of her daughter, Angelina revisited the material and began "really watching the effect it was having on my young daughter and what she was telling me about herself, and I was learning what about it was important to her and why it connected so deeply to her."

The 49-year-old star - who also has Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and Vivienne's twin brother Knox with ex-husband Brad Pitt - then joined the production as producer, with her daughter as her assistant.

And Angelina realised doing so was "a moment to learn more about Viv."

She explained: "It was a very different experience of understanding, of how this is having a significant effect on her as a young person right now, and she's communicating something to me, and that is the power of this material.

"And then I had the privilege of watching everyone work over this last year to make it into what it is, and Vivienne has been there the whole way."

The 'Tomb Raider' star previously admitted her youngest daughter reminds her of her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, because she doesn't want to be the "centre of attention" though she works very hard.

She told E! News: "Viv reminds me of my mother, in that she isn't focused on being the center of attention but in being a support to other creatives.

"She's very thoughtful and serious about theatre and working hard to best understand how to contribute."